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EL84 Comparison and a great buy

Discussion in 'Amps and Cabs' started by Mastervolume, Apr 28, 2005.

  1. Apr 28, 2005 #1
    Mastervolume

    Mastervolume Member

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    I recently sat down with my 18watt marshall clone, Matchless lightening Clone and D13 9/15 and tried out some el84s.

    JJ- no. - when compared to what you can find on the market right now.

    Ei - OK big sounding tubes.

    Then I met this guy over at the 18watt board.

    terry_kilgore2003@yahoo.com

    He had some 84s listed for sale and was in socal so I figured a trip was in order.

    I listened to and bought a quad of Telam 84s for 75 bucks as well as a duet of some big bottled russian mil spec 84s for 15.

    The russians for 15.00 will stomp any current production tube. Period. Better bass tighter tone better smoother highend than any of the jj/Ei/Sovtek stuff. These are a no brainer. I am going to purchase 8 more just for backup.

    The real winner however was the Telams. As sweet as any mullard or telefunken I have ever heard at less than a quarter of the price. I am going to grab another quad. I think then he will only have a few quads left. As long as I can get these tubes they will be the only thing I will use in my 84 amps. Any of you guys running a 84 based amp should really jump on these.

    Just a heads up.

    :D
     
    Mastervolume, Apr 28, 2005
    Mastervolume, Apr 28, 2005
    #1
  2. Apr 28, 2005 #2
    Roccaforte Amps

    Roccaforte Amps Member

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    ah, the JJ is one of the best el84's you can stick into
    anything. to each his own.
     
    Roccaforte Amps, Apr 28, 2005
    Roccaforte Amps, Apr 28, 2005
    #2
  3. Apr 28, 2005 #3
    jkr

    jkr Supporting Member

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    You didn't know who Terry Kilgore was? I'm assuming that's the guy that played on some of David Lee Roth's solo albums.
     
    jkr, Apr 28, 2005
    jkr, Apr 28, 2005
    #3
  4. Apr 28, 2005 #4
    Stevo57

    Stevo57 Supporting Member

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    MV, I'll give these a shot with my JRT. Thanks
     
    Stevo57, Apr 28, 2005
    Stevo57, Apr 28, 2005
    #4
  5. Apr 28, 2005 #5
    Mastervolume

    Mastervolume Member

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    Hey John!

    Yeah that's him....I guess I never really followed DLR :D
     
    Mastervolume, Apr 28, 2005
    Mastervolume, Apr 28, 2005
    #5
  6. Apr 28, 2005 #6
    jkr

    jkr Supporting Member

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    I was kind of joking, since I don't think that many people know who he is (other than me probably), but that is kind of cool that it was him! I'll catch up with you soon.
     
    jkr, Apr 28, 2005
    jkr, Apr 28, 2005
    #6
  7. Apr 28, 2005 #7
    blues

    blues Supporting Member

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    I have telams in my aiken invader,they kill the jjs,just my thoughts,to each his own.
     
    blues, Apr 28, 2005
    blues, Apr 28, 2005
    #7
  8. Apr 28, 2005 #8
    Gril Grissom

    Gril Grissom Member

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    Thanks MV! ;)
     
    Gril Grissom, Apr 28, 2005
    Gril Grissom, Apr 28, 2005
    #8
  9. Apr 28, 2005 #9
    DavidB

    DavidB Member

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    If the Telams you have are like those that sell on eBay, I think they are Russian EL84s. Check for flying saucer getters. Current production is sold as Sovtek.
     
    DavidB, Apr 28, 2005
    DavidB, Apr 28, 2005
    #9
  10. Apr 28, 2005 #10
    Mastervolume

    Mastervolume Member

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    nope. halo. I have a bunch of sovtek pulls and these look nothing like any of my current production models.

    I did see a lot of ten sell for 89 bux..........
     
    Mastervolume, Apr 28, 2005
    Mastervolume, Apr 28, 2005
    #10
  11. May 1, 2005 #11
    DavidB

    DavidB Member

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    Interesting. The ones on eBay looked Russian, what with the three hole plate construction. Do yours look like that?
     
    DavidB, May 1, 2005
    DavidB, May 1, 2005
    #11
  12. May 1, 2005 #12
    Patch

    Patch Gold Supporting Member

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    Go to http://www.vintageamps.com/
    terry kilgore is "tubetramp".
    there's a couple of thread on those tubes.
    also, nickcha put those tubes in his infamous fawn ac30 and he likes them.
     
    Patch, May 1, 2005
    Patch, May 1, 2005
    #12
  13. May 1, 2005 #13
    telewacker

    telewacker Member

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    I got some of those overbuilt Russian military EL84s on ebay and they are great. They're for my Guytron, which eats EL84s pretty quickly, so they seem perfect since NOS are impratical and JJs lasted a month. The Russian tubes sound better too. About the same price...$20 per pair.
     
    telewacker, May 1, 2005
    telewacker, May 1, 2005
    #13
  14. May 1, 2005 #14
    aquadog

    aquadog Member

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    Can you find other tube designs from the same makers of these EL84's?

    I'm going to be in need of a pair of 6l6's pretty soon.
     
    aquadog, May 1, 2005
    aquadog, May 1, 2005
    #14
  15. May 1, 2005 #15
    Macaroni

    Macaroni Member

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    Hey Mastervolume...

    I've got new JJs (Eurotubes) in my Kingsley Deluxe 32 (4-EL84s), along with GT-12AX7-Ms in V1 of both channels, and the tones I'm getting are the best ever for me - big, fat, bold, rich, chimey, bell-like, not harsh or edgy, etc.

    Can you please give a more detailed comparison between the Telams and the JJs? I'm all for getting something better, so I'm trying to understand in what way they will be better than what I've got so far.

    Thanks.
     
    Macaroni, May 1, 2005
    Macaroni, May 1, 2005
    #15

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